


Not So Like A Dignitary

by Revasnaslan



Series: Lilacs and Wisteria [19]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU Where Thace and Ulaz Survived, Fluff, Food Fights, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Post S2, The Paladins and Allura are like... mentioned in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 00:51:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14032539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revasnaslan/pseuds/Revasnaslan
Summary: In which the Paladins suck at being dignitaries and Ulaz iswaymore amused than Thace thinks he should be.





	Not So Like A Dignitary

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt from tumblr! The prompt was: _defend - one character defending the other’s reputation , dignity , or safety for them_
> 
> ... i feel like this prompt should've probably been more serious but my friend Aretia suggested a food fight, so I ran with that instead of going the angst route :')

Ulaz had noticed that the dining area on the Castle of Lions had been getting rather crowded, as of late. With all of the Paladins, the Princess and her adviser, in addition to multiple Blades that had been stationed on the Castle to serve as liaisons, it was already difficult to fit people in during meals. The near constant visits from delegations who either wished to ask for assistance or to join the Coalition made the fit an even tighter squeeze—and Ulaz couldn’t say he was _fond_ of the change. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Thace was uncomfortable with the attention they would occasionally be given by delegates upon entering the room. This was even in spite of them mostly keeping to themselves at the far end of the table, out of the way and minding their own business.

Few delegates ever wished to speak with them, while the others watched them suspiciously from their seats. The first few times they had entered the dining area, ready to serve as liaisons between the Blade and the systems that needed aid, they were met with scorn. The downright _wilted_ look that had appeared on Thace’s face when he noticed how distrustful the visiting delegates had been of them was heartbreaking, and Ulaz had quickly led him away. He had also taken up a habit of sitting on Thace’s left, effectively blocking anyone from approaching him from that side. It helped with making sure that delegates didn’t accidentally sneak into Thace’s blind spot—a lingering injury from the explosion at Central Command that had nearly killed him—and startle him. Meetings with delegates tended to go more smoothly when Thace wasn’t reflexively reaching for his weapon.

Today was no different. There was a visiting delegation of Lunyx from the planet of Kota who were largely ignoring them, and Thace was focused on his food. If Ulaz had been less capable at reading slight tells in Thace’s body language, he would’ve thought that Thace was ignoring the rest of the dining hall entirely. However, his fluffy ears were giving the slightest twitches and turns in response to noises on the other end of the table. He might’ve only been half-listening as he poked at his food goo, but he was listening.

Ulaz couldn’t stop the soft snort that left him as Thace’s nose scrunched up in distaste when the food goo gave a disgusting sounding squelch.

“I didn’t take you for a picky eater,” Ulaz said teasingly.

“I’m _not_ ,” Thace said, shaking his head. “This is just…” He trailed off with a sigh, shaking his head. With a grimace, he took an unwilling bite of his meal, and it almost looked as if he turned a slight shade of green to match the food goo. It took a couple of moments for him to finally manage to swallow, and bite back his gag. Hastily, he pushed his plate away.

Lightly, Ulaz reached out to run his hand up and down Thace’s back. “I’ll make you something in the kitchen later,” he offered, moving his hand up to lightly scratch behind one of Thace’s ears. The grateful purr he received in return was answer enough for him.

The slight, fond smile that appeared on Ulaz lips as Thace leaned into the touch was gone in an instant, though. A confused frown took its place as Ulaz’s ears flicked in the direction of the other end of the table. It _sounded_ like the Paladins were arguing about something. About what, Ulaz couldn’t be certain. They were speaking too quickly for his translator to catch most of it. Whatever it was, though, none of them were happy about it. The heavy sigh he let out was enough to catch Thace’s attention, and he let out a confused sounding chirp as Ulaz’s hand moved from behind his ear.

“Laz…?”

“It seems the Paladins are getting rowdy,” Ulaz said, motioning to the other end of the table with the slightest shift of his ears. “The delegation from Kota doesn’t appear to be very pleased…”

“It doesn’t look like the princess is either,” Thace mused.

Allura was sitting opposite the Paladins, with an aghast look on her features. Her face had reddened—although whether from embarrassment or rage, Ulaz couldn’t tell from where he was sitting. And the Paladins… they didn’t seem to notice either Allura or the delegates reactions to their behavior. But perhaps they didn’t care. If Ulaz were to put GAC on it, he would’ve gone with the latter.

The metallic claws of Ulaz’s prosthetic arm clicked softly against the table as he leaned forward in his seat, resting his arms on the tabletop. His ears twitched in amusement as he watched the Lunyx delegates steadily grow more and more irritated by the behavior of the Paladins. He could almost hear their faint hisses from where he sat. Pidge was yelling about something now—Ulaz was still amazed that someone so tiny had the capability to be so loud—spoon held in hand. Lance was in her face as Hunk tried to reel him back and break up the fight, and Keith looked as though he was backing up Pidge.

The Paladins looked damn near ready to wage an all out war amongst themselves. It reminded Ulaz of the fights some of the Blade initiates back on base could get into at times.

“Don’t you go and encourage them,” Thace hissed softly, lightly nudging Ulaz in the side. “They should be acting like dignitaries, not cubs…”

“They aren’t even looking this way,” Ulaz retorted, not tearing his gaze away from the Paladins. “And shouldn’t we be working to help them gain the trust of the delegates? That’s why we’re stationed here, after all…”

Thace sighed, but seemed to concede to that point. Even so, his ears pinned back and twitched in irritation against the sides of his head. “What are they even saying?” he asked.

For a moment, Ulaz listened, trying to make sense of the garbled mess that was making it through the translators. “From what I can gather, Lance started it…”

Thace gave a soft, unsurprised sounding hum. If he was going to make a comment, though, he didn’t get the chance.

Pidge reached out and grabbed an entire handful of food goo off of her plate. Then, she lobbed it, hitting Lance square in the face. The entire dining room was silent—Ulaz’s jaw dropped in surprise, and he heard the faintest surprised intake of breath from where Thace sat beside him. The Paladins stared at each other for a couple of ticks, almost as if they were unsure how they should be reacting to the impromptu food throwing.

Then, Lance grabbed a handful of his own food goo and threw it back at Pidge, nailing her in the forehead and knocking her glasses askew. That was when the all out war started. Keith and Pidge quickly took shelter behind one of the oversized dining chairs while Lance and Hunk hide behind a second one. It didn’t take long for Allura to snap out of her surprised stupor and try calming all four of them down, looking rather flustered and frustrated with them and their actions. And the Lunyx delegates just looked flabbergasted, jaws dropped as they slowly inched away from the table in order to avoid getting hit by the food goo.

Then, one of Hunk’s throws actually achieved some distance—possibly more than he had been anticipating, judging by how his eyes widened in horror. Ulaz didn’t have time to duck before he was hit in the face with a large glob of food goo. It caked into the fur of his face and neck, covering his left eye, and getting stuck in his fluffy crest. He sputtered as he was hit, reeling back in surprise, but after the initial sting at contact, he couldn’t say he was hurt. Just a little shocked.

The soft chirp that left Thace didn’t go unnoticed as he must’ve flinched back in surprise to avoid any stray bits of the food goo.

“Oh, shiiiii…” Lance trailed off as all four Paladins looked over at Ulaz. It was possible they were expecting an outburst.

But Ulaz was more patient than that.

“I think your aim is a little off,” Ulaz called, tone dry as he reached for a napkin to wipe himself off with. He was sure he was just making more of a mess of himself than he was actually getting rid of the gunk, but in his defense he couldn’t actually _see_ very well right now—

Then, a small spoonful of food goo whizzed past his ear, and smacked Hunk square in the forehead, earning a yelp from him.

Ulaz blinked a couple of times in surprise, before turning to look to his right, at Thace… who was holding his spoon like it was a launcher with a half-hearted frown on his face. He looked more like a begrudging parent than anything else.

“I thought they should be acting like dignitaries,” Ulaz whispered.

“Yes, well… the delegates are cowering against the wall,” Thace said, motioning vaguely with his ears as he loaded more food goo onto his spoon and took aim. “I think the time for acting like a dignitary has passed… and I need to defend your honor.”

Ulaz scoffed, unable to help his smile. “My hero.”

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: [revasnaslan](http://revasnaslan.tumblr.com/)


End file.
